Why is there Battery Voltage on the Ground Wire? Easy No-Fuel Pump Diagnosis..

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Why is there Battery Voltage on the Ground Wire? Easy No-Fuel Pump Diagnosis..

Рет қаралды 15,550

Wrenching With Kenny

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 76

@benjamincresswell3713 Жыл бұрын

One of the most experienced mechanics at a place where I worked was having trouble with his brand new 1997 Honda Civic. Twice it wouldn't start. Each time he diagnosed it to have no fuel on the fuel rail. He sent it to the dealer and they "fixed" it for him both times. A couple of days after the 2nd episode of no start/ no fuel pressure, when we were just closing shop for the day he came in and announced that his Honda would not start. It was winter and everyone was figuring the cold had something to do with it. We pushed it into the shop and he pulled the back seat out to access the fuel pump. He'd not done that yet and low and behold he had power at the pump. So, I asked him to check for "the" ground. At first he was skeptical and said he was grounding his test light on one of the fuel pump module hold down screws. *(steel gas tank) so he said yes he had a good ground. Then I told him, the computer doesn't send battery positive to the fuel pump, the key does that, the computer sends batt neg. Without thinking he simply probed the negative lead to the pump with his test light, still grounded to the tank screw, and the pump came right on and to his amazement his test light lit up also. I didn't go into the theory of relativity, there was too much consternation going on at that moment. But for all who were present that became a learning moment. ben/ michigan

@raygee1138 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the shout-out Kenny, its our pleasure to have you on the radio show, and I hope you're a recurring contributor. I have a feeling you'll keep us grounded...

@JemTheWire Жыл бұрын

Yey, 60K subscribers. Well done. Strength to strength. Love the way you explain your way through the tasks in hand. You have a great deal of common sense. There are plenty of folk out there that don't.

@williampatrickfagan7590 Ай бұрын

He learnt his trade before computers. So he was thought to think and work out.

@ChrisTheBmxGuy Жыл бұрын

Had a friend put multiple fuel pumps in his old s10 because that ground wire was loose. Dead give away was the last time it happened it died going over a railroad track. He got it towed to my house and i quickly found the issue. I used to mess with s10s almost exclusively and pretty much know every bolt on them. Miss my old 01 4.3 ext. Cab truck i swapped cavalier seats into, swapped for a stepside bed, 5 speed swapped it and used a center console out of a blazer. Awesome little trucks.

@johnrpizzaguy Жыл бұрын

I’ve done it myself in my 39 years as a Master Tech , sometimes I will overthink a problem and then I have to tell myself to Go Back to Basics and sometimes I just have to walk away go get a Coke Zero then when I get back to the job the solution hits me in face. Thanks again for the great videos,have a great rest of your day.

@jthonn Жыл бұрын

Man I know what you mean, I'll walk off, take a little break, come back and figure it out with no problem. I think it puts things in a better perspective.

@johnrpizzaguy Жыл бұрын

@@jthonn it’s one of the hardest things to teach newbie’s, they want argue with the vehicle instead of walking away for a bit. Thanks for your comment have a great day

@robertdiehl9003 Жыл бұрын

So down to earth this man is. Soothing personality and easy to understand.

@jthonn Жыл бұрын

IKR, you can't help but like the guy.

@philipwhant1014 3 ай бұрын

Enjoy your videos, honest and down to earth

@WrenchingWithKenny 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for your kind words & watching the channel. Keep wrenching 🔧

@michaelconnolly748 Жыл бұрын

Enjoy your video's. I tend to refer to a ground as a return, because it's going back to the battery or origin of the supply. That helps me understand it better. Keep doing what your doing.

@wallace3953 Жыл бұрын

Down below, a poster says the 90% of electrical problems are bad grounds. Very Smart observation. Sometimes it is necessary to carefully install connector ground wires to assist with grounding issues. Everything needs a complete Cricut to function/run, etc.

@Bobo-ox7fj Жыл бұрын

More to the point - if you have any amount of experience with the system and can't immediately identify the problem, it's a ground fault

@InTime-x3j Ай бұрын

Yep I found that one!!!LOL I had a bad brake line and I had to pull the bed. Then I wanted to move the truck it would turn over but no fire. I back tracked what I did and I was like maybe the wire harness in back. So I chilled out and fixed the brake line and put it together and it started.

@bobburro3642 Жыл бұрын

Kenny, im Looking forward to the next ..."So what am i working on now" ?

@Justiceincorporated. Жыл бұрын

Long videos or short, I like them all. Keep them coming. Looking forward to the next story time.

@jthonn Жыл бұрын

Me too, ready for a story. Kenny brings me back many years with the stories. I think he was about as crazy as I was when we were younger.

@paulputnam2305 Жыл бұрын

“…jarred a couple of screws loose, that were already loose.” Ahh Ha ha ha ha Ha ha Kenny, you crack me up! Great video. Thank You for caring so much about us. Much Love and Hugs

@rubbersoul3723 Жыл бұрын

Watching from Rhode Island as always-the lesson of today's video-stay grounded. PEACE BRO!

@johnnylightning1491 Жыл бұрын

There should always be voltage at the ground if the circuit is active, that's the way electricity works. Keep the good stuff coming Kenny

@anwalt693 Жыл бұрын

Hi Kenny, thanks for another video. It's not just automovite where there can be misunderstanding. I once met an electrician who claimed that there was no current on the neutral wire in a household circuit. And that's true. Until you flip the switch and power something on!

@patrickostrom2762 Жыл бұрын

Tell next time,wrench with Kenny jumping the grounds in automotive circuit! Enjoyed video!

@jeffbotkin1405 Жыл бұрын

Good idea to check for bad or weak ground. Thanks

@simms196 Жыл бұрын

Very good explanation & theory of operation.

@rickboyd-ws3qg Жыл бұрын

Thanks again for everything you do Kenny I'm very excited to see your videos Keep Wretching my friend

@johnwaby4321 Ай бұрын

Wow getter famous now 👍👌

@bryannikkila9751 Жыл бұрын

Hello Kenny from Higgins lake Michigan. Another great video. I wish you were my mechanic no doubt about it. You are a good guy

@pairofdogs Жыл бұрын

Excellent, please keep it up!

@mckinleygoetz9855 Жыл бұрын

I bought a tool kit off of Amazon from the link. I hadn't had a chance to use it yet. I also bought a small cheap scanner. The one I bought was only 50 dollars. So it will do probably anything I need. Thanks again.

@AT-wl9yq Жыл бұрын

If you are just starting out, you need to get a good DVOM and test lead kit. For diagnostics, its your most used tool, and you really can't do much without it. Get the best one you can afford, not a cheap one.

@mckinleygoetz9855 Жыл бұрын

@@AT-wl9yq it's only for my family's use, I'm retired and don't work on very much anymore.

@Liberatus 5 ай бұрын

You’re great, great show, luv the content, who are we.???

@Liberatus 5 ай бұрын

OMG,please educate us on digital cars.

@Liberatus 5 ай бұрын

Your great, tips A1, huge fan, pick a team?

@stevestadnik9206 Жыл бұрын

In the North East rust belt (southern Ontario), you will not easily remove a truck box, just saying.

@u.s.a.198 6 ай бұрын

Thank You !

@arthuraucar3696 Жыл бұрын

Congratulations for your invitation!!!!!

@stevophillips4121 Жыл бұрын

Looked to see even though I dont need the scanner here in the Philippines, like I could at home. Price $372.00 AmazonGlobal Shipping $28.71 Estimated Import Fees Deposit $231.88

@RussellBooth1977 Жыл бұрын

Yes, the test lamp is connected in series with the fuel pump, personally,I would run the ground wire up to the negative terminal on the battery & connect it there !

@jeffcompton6937 Жыл бұрын

Yeah except that's completely unnecessary if you actually understand how vehicles are wired, how it works and how to repair them.

@bobby9195 Жыл бұрын

Good evening Mr Kenny hope y'all had a great day, good video,DC voltage can do some weird stuff lol

@leighpike6572 Жыл бұрын

Light bulb moment, just put into words what I tried to explain to a colleague regarding why he had a test Light working on a ground wire. Took nearly an hour to find the break though

@michaelbolton2741 Жыл бұрын

Ah, yes, the foibles of using the body/frame as 12VDC ground. I can't count the taillamps I've seen on GM vehicles that were wonky due to bad grounding. There is a reason that radio guys (CB/Ham) run their power wiring (Positive AND Negative) all the way to the battery. 😉

@Liberatus 5 ай бұрын

I am a wwk fan but it’s normal to find your market? Who watches utube for more than 10mins- rtd mechs, not instagram kids, who don’t care, who can afford the products advertised. Fitzee has it nailed.

@mikeschaner5853 Жыл бұрын

Why would my vehicle battery power up a test light, but not a power probe. Same exact connections for both tools. However, i have the accessory adapter for the power probe, and it works just fine using that. I'm baffled. Great show sir. Always learn a thing or two from you!

@AT-wl9yq Жыл бұрын

The most important thing to know when using a power probe is you need to be extremely careful. If you don't know exactly what you're doing, you can do a lot of damage. Its not the same exact connection for both tools. The power probe connects to both the positive and negative terminals of the battery. Because of that, it can't be active 100% of the time, like a test light. Since you are connected to both battery terminals at the same time, you need to manually select what you need it to do. If you need to supply battery voltage, you have to push the + button on the power probe. This allows voltage from the battery to pass through the PP and continue on to whatever you are touching with the tip. If you need to test a ground, you push the - button, and that will allow a ground connection through the tool to whatever the tip touches. Never push the button unless you know with 100% certainty to what the tip of the PP is touching. It's not just a DVOM where you can test whatever you want, and if you make a mistake the fuse in the meter will blow. For example, you're trying to diagnose a possible fuel injector issue. We know the injectors get power directly from the fuse box under the hood, and the PCM grounds it to activate it. If you accidentally push the + button on the PP when touching the ground wire for the injector, you just blew your PCM. Power probes and test lights are very useful tools, but until you get more experience, I would highly recommend you use a DVOM for all of your testing. Yes, it will take a bit longer, but its a much safer tool. In fact, some shops won't allow you to use tools like test lights and power probes, or they may require you to be at a certain level before you can use them.

@jthonn Жыл бұрын

Kenny you are the man!

@garya9875 Жыл бұрын

Great video Kenny.

@bobblum5973 Жыл бұрын

It's a simple concept, you must have a complete circuit for current to flow. "Ground" is just a reference point, you can reference the +V and probe the "ground" side instead. The same principle applies with AC house wiring. The live "hot" side of the circuit may be fine, but without a complete circuit through the neutral wire things don't work. In electronics with signals it gets complicated. I've seen a military test bench give weird results because two black ground wires were swapped in a 40- or 50-pin connector. One wire was maybe 9 inches long, the other closer to 36 inches. The noise and crosstalk being picked up by the longer wire caused trouble for the electronics. Nothing in the electronics was bad; swapping the grounds to how they belonged cured the fault.

@k9under Жыл бұрын

Good to keep in the back of your head thanks.

@billlolokula7375 Жыл бұрын

Great video. Thank you

@richardcranium5839 Жыл бұрын

well cars dont have grounds usually. this is my pet peeve. they use "commons" short for "common conductors". they are also called "returns"in some locations. the metal of the body or frame is used as a conductor for a return path to the battery "source". rarely a bare conductor will ride to the round from the chassis to nullify static charge or for radio noise suppression - these are grounds!

@michaelburns9172 Жыл бұрын

Ken I watch everything I can of yours.

@greggc8088 Жыл бұрын

There's three kinds of electrical current-AC, DC, and FM. FM stands for freaking magic.

@44hawk28 Жыл бұрын

You also need to remember that the power from a battery actually comes out of the battery through the ground side if then goes into the body of the vehicle. The metal, and the positive square that power or all those electrons are flowing back into the battery. That is the reason why you should always always always disconnect the negative First and reconnect it last. Otherwise, you can make a mistake and do major damage far quicker by disconnecting the positive first or connecting the positive last.

@wingman8447 Жыл бұрын

Thank you

@I_Died_2_Weeks_Ago Жыл бұрын

This is overlooked because of conventional flow (poop) theory that says current flows from positive to negative. If people realize that it actually flows from negative to positive (electron flow), then they'd be less confused. There's a reason why you disconnect the negative side of the battery first when doing electrical work...

@lynnlutjen261 Жыл бұрын

👍👍

@michaelknorr6825 Жыл бұрын

If the load is shorted, you will have power all the way through the circuit

@lonwillis783 Жыл бұрын

E=I*R R=E/I I=E/R. I equals current E equals voltage and R equals resistance. 😆😁😃😀👍

@kentearly805 Жыл бұрын

An un grounded ground wire simply reads the 12 volt "voltage" through the windings of the fuel pump. 90% of all electrical problems are bad grounds......Period!

@Taillighttim26 Жыл бұрын

Some people don't know that the ground is what complets the connection and don't it's powered

@AT-wl9yq Жыл бұрын

Some people don't know that many components are ground side switched and the opposite is true.

@SuckIT-2000 Жыл бұрын

Customers are Customers but pull the fuel tank and what happens happens, and kill a nightmare before it starts and wastes money

@SuckIT-2000 Жыл бұрын

Truthfully it is not your fault for trying to remove "said part" and what happens afterwards, ESPECIALLY when you have done your job correctly and you have uncovered other "UNSEEN ISSUES" preventing you from doing any job correctly

@ronaldhamblin4615 8 ай бұрын

Are we talking positive earth or negative here

@jamessebastian9822 Жыл бұрын

Your grounded

@jumpinjojo Жыл бұрын

*You’re

@SuckIT-2000 Жыл бұрын

Law of mechanics you have to make it worse before you can diagnosis the REAL issue

@SuckIT-2000 Жыл бұрын

Apologize for blowing up. It was nothing against you just not the correct thought, we need to be better than the "Used car lot"

@threadtapwhisperer5136 Жыл бұрын

It is tradition, for we can only experience true mastery and triumph over our tribulations if we first amplify the preload on our mental acuity. Tits, Tires or Wires, gonna have issues eventually!

@matersworkshop6123 Жыл бұрын

If the ground wire is not connected then it's not completing the circuit

@SuckIT-2000 Жыл бұрын

Why take the bed off? YOU REMOVE the fuel tank, I hate fixing vehicles that is done to. It is making an incorrect decision to get a vehicle out and not cause issues..... You need to find the issues NOT JUST FIX IT. Two fuel tank strap bolts is 10x easier than removing a bed, you don't work on many Ford's. Still back to find an issue Before assuming and doing something easy because it's easy.

@kotjmf1968 Жыл бұрын

Most guys I have known are lost in electrical. So was I until I stopped listening to the idiots that want to compare it to "water in a hose," that is ridiculous. I went to the library (early 1970s) and researched the subject , centering on Ohm's Law. When I thought on the atomic level, electrons moving from valence orbit from atom to atom, voltage simply as a "potential" and currernt as a "volume" of electrons controlled by the potential and circuit resistance, it all made immediate senxe to me. People need to STOP comparing and emulating other things, unless it is utterly the last ditch effort. People make understanding electrical way too hard by clouding their minds with comparisons and examples that are comparing "apples and carburetors." Voltage drop (unwanted internal circuit resistance) is the most overlooked and misunderstood problem most guys run into. I have assisted many guys in finishing a diagnostic by getting back toi the most basic of basics, GOOD, SOLID electrical connections.